True to its title, this slice-of-life satire is one of director Mike Leigh’s warmest and most optimistic films—though it’s still laced with more than a touch of bittersweet melancholy. Focusing on counterculture couple Cyril (Phil Davis) and Shirley (Ruth Sheen)—a pair of generous, pot-smoking Marxists wrestling with the decision of whether or not to have a baby—and their materialistic, middle-class extended family, High Hopes offers an at once affectionate and slyly critical portrait of generational, social, and class divides within Thatcher-era Britain.

Winner of European Film Awards for Best Actress (Ruth Sheen), Best Supporting Performance (Edna Doré), and Best Composer (Andrew Dickson), and nominated for Best Film.

Written and Directed by Mike Leigh

Cinematography by Roger Pratt

Music by Andrew Dickson

Edited by Jon Gregory

Production Design by Diana Charnley

Costume Design by Lindy Hemming

Makeup by Morag Ross

Starring Phil Davis, Ruth Sheen, Edna Doré, Heather Tobias, Lesley Manville, Philip Jackson, and David Bamber